20 Things You Didn’t Know About Sendbird
Sendbird is a unique social communication platform that has taken the world by storm. If you’re not yet familiar with the company or its products, you’re likely happy with the current social media communications program you’ve been using for years. If you’re interested in giving something new a try, Sendbird may offer surprisingly more than you would expect. It’s a new and modern platform that helps people to meet, connect, talk, plan, and more. Here are 20 things you didn’t know about Sendbird that you might find interesting and even useful.
1. Sendbird is good for business
Venture Beat explains that Sendbird has just expanded its platform to make it easier for companies to add video chat, voice, and messaging features to their business apps. It’s part of their approach to assisting in the digital transformation trend that is becoming a part of the new normal in business communications.
2. Sendbird just raised an extra $100 million through venture capital funding
The latest round of Series C venture capital funding raised $100 million for Sendbird. The company plans to use the funds to add the latest features of its platform to help businesses add their video, voice, and messaging features to their apps. Sendbird’s expansion is set to draw more professional companies into its growing list of customers.
3. It’s moving into the healthcare arena
The latest move to expand Sendbird’s outreach with products and services is set to enter into a new niche in the business world. Sendbird’s latest features will help those in the medical profession to reach out to more patients with a video-based telehealth system. Plans to achieve this goal were established before the worldwide pandemic happened, but the timing for the launch of these new products couldn’t have come at a better time.
4. Sendbird is going mobile
Consumers who enjoy using send birds platform for communication are about to receive more from the company than ever before. The platform is adding capabilities that will allow them to engage in various communication modes directly with companies through their mobile apps. This will open up more business markets for Sendbird and it is expecting an influx of new business thanks to the expansion.
5. Businesses will benefit from the new platform
Sendbird’s latest surge in products and services will offer a platform that allows food delivery services to communicate more easily with their drivers. The platform allows for enabling of chat that are custom-built to meet the unique needs of this and other types of businesses. This unique customization of communications platforms will make it easier for businesses like this to enhance communications with their staff who are out in the field.
6. The current business climate is skyrocketing Sendbird’s success
A current trend in business behaviors is helping to skyrocket Sendbird’s platform to its high levels of success. Brands are choosing to use in-app chat over SMS for connecting with their users. This is also becoming their preferred method for communicating with each other. Sendbird is benefiting from unprecedented growth because of this emerging trend. Companies prefer the platform that allows for enhanced communication through the apps that they’re already using and Sendbird’s customized communications platform is the ideal solution to integrate the option for video chat, messaging, or voice communications right on the apps that are used for other purposes. It’s faster and easier to use than many other platforms.
7. Sendbird just reached unicorn status
The latest round of venture capital funding has pushed Sendbird over the top in reaching a new pinnacle of success. After receiving the funding of $100 million from its Series C round of funding, the company has achieved a valuation of $1.05 billion. Companies that are valued at $1 billion or more become unicorns, which are an exclusive group of the most high-performing and successful companies in the world. Well done Sendbird!
8. Sendbird’s APIs are reaching millions
According to Techcrunch, customers who use the Sendbird API platform have drawn large groups of users in to use the chat, text, and video features. Within the last year, it’s been noted that people are spending a lot more time in front of device screens as the primary method of communication with others. Analytics show that there are about 150 million users channeled through Sendbird’s APIs to chat with each other.
9. Sendbird will add more features soon
Sendbird is a company that is on a roll. It’s enjoyed a period of rapid expansion, but this is just the beginning. CEO John S. Kim confirmed that Sendbird is actively engaged in the development of even more services to add to the platform shortly. Among them are moderation, along with the ability to send and receive payments, and also the addition of logistics features. There are also plans to allow users to build their Clubhouse clones at some point.
10. Sendbird is keeping up with the competition
Sendbird has emerged in a market that is highly competitive. So far, it has held its own against the stiff competition. The chief competitors for Sendbird are MessageBird, PubNub Stream, Firebase, and Sinch. These are all successful companies that offer similar services, and to compete, Sendbird has had to offer unique services that set them apart from the crowd. They have no choice but to continue to upgrade and offer just a little bit more than the others if they want to achieve top-dog status in the sea of digital communication platforms. The most competitive companies in this arena tend to be highly capitalized, and this is why Sendbird must continue to raise funds to keep ahead of the tech curve and introduce new and better services on its platform. It’s a dog-eat-dog world in this sector of the tech arena.
11. Sendbird isn’t the leading company yet
While Sendbird has come a long way since its initial launch in 2013, it still has further to go. It’s not the leading platform in communications, or even close. While its recent emergence as a unicorn company is a good thing, it has more ground to cover before it catches up with the level of success achieved by its chief competition. For example. MessageBird is an omnichannel platform as a service, and through its fundraising and product and services sales, the company currently has a valuation of $3 billion. Sendbird does have the potential for catching up with the others if it continues on its present trajectory, but that’s going to take more fundraising and continued development in the customized offerings of new and innovative products and services.
12. Sendbird is adding to its board
With the latest round of funding, Sendbird added to the collective wisdom of its advisory board. Karan Mehandru is a partner at Steadfast, an investor in Sendbird. He adds that there are new opportunities for adding multiple verticals to Sendbird. He sees the need for these companies to adopt solid communication channels and this will open up yet more niches for Sendbird to explore as they expand their offerings of customized communications services.
13. Sendbird is unique at its core
One of the characteristics of Sendbird that makes it unique in the communications platform industry is that it provides a scalable chat experience. This makes it superior to some of the competition in that it tailors services to meet the unique needs of each customer. This is a service that is not available through all other providers and it is an arena that Sendbird can leverage to achieve top status. It’s all about being different as well as providing easy-to-use products that appeal to the majority of users, and doing so consistently. The scalability is one of Sendbird’s prime focuses and it may be the ace in the hole that helps the platform to surge ahead of the others.
14. Sendbird has made one acquisition
According to Crunchbase, Sendbird has officially made one acquisition. On April 1, 2020, it acquired LinearHub (Roundee.io). LinarHub is a smart video meeting service that maintains a focus on post-meeting value. The company is based in Seongnam, Kyonggi-Do, South Korea. The total amount of funding for the acquisition was $2.1 million.
15. Sendbird has solid financial support
Sendbird is in a good position for expansion and conducting the necessary business to remain competitive. There is high confidence from its venture capital investors. The company has attracted the attention and action of 6 lead investors including World Innovation Lab, Meritech Capital Partners, Tiger Global Management, Emergence, Steadfast Financial, Softbank Vision Fund, and others. A total of 19 investors have contributed to the venture capital backing that has helped Sendbird to get to the level it’s at today. Continued funding is available as needed for Sendbird to continue to grow and expand.
16. John S. Kim is the co-founder and CEO of Sendbird
John S. Kim is the current executive in charge of Sendbird. He is a Korean businessman and entrepreneur who brings years of experience in digital communications and building companies from the ground up. Mr. Kim has either founded or co-founded 3 unique companies in the technology industry. He is talented and hardworking with a proven track record of success in his niche of the industry.
17. Sendbird has 12 members on its leadership team
In addition to John Kim as CEO, Sendbird is run by 11 other members in its leadership team. Other members of the team include Forest Lee, co-founder and the head of design. Mark Lee is the Vice President of operations. Brandon Y Jeon is co-founder and head of trust and safety. Jay Yun is the Vice President of engineering applications. Jeongjin Ku is the Vice President of the engineering platform. Joe Pagano is the chief financial officer, and Caitlin Davis is the Vice President for people and culture. The 12 member team includes the three principal founders of Sendbird in a dynamic team of energetic leaders.
18. Sendbird is a technology company
Sendbird is classified as a tech company in the communications sector. Impressively, the business relies on a total of 87 technologies to power its website, including Viewport Meta, IPhone/Mobile Compatible, SSL by Default, and dozens of others. These 87 technologies are wrapped into the 60 technology products that are required to combine their unique features and functions to make the website, its products, and services all flow seamlessly together. It takes a lot of complicated technologies to create smooth experiences for end-users. A great deal of planning and maintenance goes into such complex operations, which are not visible to the casual user.
19. Sendbird is currently hiring
According to its LinkedIn page, Sendbird is still expanding its operations. When we visited the job postings section of the site, we observed that there are currently 38 open positions with the company. The locations are varied including jobs open in Seoul, South Korea, New York, New York, San Mateo, California, and other locations throughout the world. There are quite a few account specialist jobs advertised along with a few developer positions, product marketers, UX researchers, and more. From all appearances, Sendbird is getting ready for another massive expansion.
20. Sendbird is a privately owned company
You won’t find Sendbird on the list of publicly traded stocks. The company has not yet made the move to file for an IPO. There wouldn’t likely be a significant financial benefit at this point in its development. Sendbird is doing well with its current private status with plenty of financial backing for additional funding when it is needed. So far we have not seen any indication that Sendbird will file for an IPO as it is thriving in its current category and making progress in becoming a leader in the digital communications platform. If it continues on its current trajectory, Sendbird has the potential to become the top-rated and most successful API platform in the world.
